This invention relates to a method for forming an image forming medium (intermediate medium) and a method for carrying the intermediate medium on an arbitrary image carrying medium such as a card, plastic molded body and so on.
As disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Published Patent Application No. 58-17432, U.S. Pat. No. 4,399,209, U.S. Ser. No. 613,706 filed on May 23, 1984, U.S. Ser. No. 618,016 filed on June 7, 1984, U.S. Pat. No. 4,576,891, U.S. Pat. No. 4,600,678, U.S. Pat. No. 4,578,339, U.S. Ser. No. 659,151 filed on Oct. 9, 1984, U.S. Pat. No. 4,587,194, U.S. Ser. No. 755,400 filed on July 16, 1985 and U.S. Ser. No. 800,014 filed on Nov. 20, 1985, there has been conventionally known an image forming apparatus using a separate type of photosensitive and pressure-sensitive recording medium in which photosensitive microcapsules encapsulating mainly photo-curing resin, polymerization initiator and dye precursors, and developer material formed of a material capable of reacting with and coloring the dye precursors are coated on different sheets, respectively, to form a color image on the sheet (developer sheet) on which the developer material is carried.
Further, as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Published Patent Application No. 58-45090 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,440,846, there has been also known an image forming apparatus using a self-contained type of photosensitive and pressure-sensitive recording medium in which both of the microcapsules and the developer material are carried on the same surface of a sheet and a color image is formed on the surface of the sheet, that is, on the photosensitive and pressure-sensitive recording medium.
In these image forming apparatus as described above, the color image can be formed on a specifically-manufactured medium such as a developer sheet as described above, but can not be formed on an arbitrary medium such as plain paper.
In order to overcome the above disadvantage, there has been proposed a recording medium which is beforehand formed of a base sheet, a developer material layer formed on one surface of the base sheet and a pressure-sensitive or heat-sensitive adhesive layer formed on the other surface of the base sheet before the recording medium and the photosensitive and pressure-sensitive recording medium are contacted with each other under pressure, as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Published Patent Application No. 63-157141. Further, there has been proposed another recording medium (a seal type developer material sheet) having the structure that a base sheet having a developer material layer provided on one surface of the base sheet and an adhesible portion formed on the other surface of the base sheet is merely attached through the adhesible portion to a separation sheet into which silicon and so on are impregnated.
In the recording medium as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Published Patent Application No. 63-157141, a color image can be formed on an image carrying medium such as a sheet type of support member, plain paper or the like by attaching the recording medium having the developer material thereon to the image carrying medium through the adhesive layer. However, it is difficult to attach the recording medium to a solid body having a three-dimensional surface through the adhesive layer because this recording medium requires a pressuring process or heat process to attach the recording medium to the image carrying medium. That is, this recording medium has a disadvantage that the color image ca not be formed on the three-dimensional surface of the body.
Further, in the recording medium as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Published Patent Application No. 63-270189, the recording medium has a structure that the base sheet having the developer material layer and the adhesible portion at both of the obverse and reverse surfaces thereof is merely attached to the separation sheet. Therefore, when the recording medium (developer sheet) thus constructed is fed in a gap between pressure-developing rollers while contacted with the photosensitive and pressure-sensitive recording medium such as a microcapsule sheet under pressure and is subjected to a pressure development process with the rollers to form a visible image on the developer sheet, and/or when the developer sheet after the pressure development process is passed through a gap between heat-fixing rollers to heat-fix (glaze) the visible image on the developer sheet while the separation sheet is attached to the base sheet, there are possibilities that the pressure-developing rollers and the heat-fixing rollers skid on the developer sheet because the separation sheet comprises a silicon-imgrenated sheet having a lustrous and slippery surface, so that the developer sheet can not pass over the rollers and the surface of the developer sheet is wrinkled, and that the separation sheet is peeled away from the developer sheet during the pressure development and heat-fixing processes and thus the adhesible portion of the developer sheet is erroneously attached to the surfaces of the rollers.